Cream-treating device and process.



1. F. RUFF. CREAM TREATING DEVICE AND PROCESS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-30,19l6.

wuemtoz J. F. RUFF.

CREAM TREATlNG DEVICE AND PROCESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30,1916- Patented Apr. 17, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J.A F. RUFF.

CREAM TREATING DEVICE AND PROCESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT llllil. Huf

@nue/WISO@ nirrain` sentirne ramener caricia.

'JOHN F. RUFr, or roar nunon, nrcnrean.

' whereby it is rendered smoother andffner CRAIVI-TREATING DEVICE AND PROCESS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. il?, 191'?.

Application led September 3'0, 1916. Serial No. 122,956.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. RU'FF, a citizen of the United States, and residing -at 4Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Cream-Treating Device and Process, of which the followlng is a specification.

The present invention relates toy an apparatus for and process of treating cream grained,` whereby it is pasteurzed, and whereby its Volume is increased. Cream so treated is particularly suitable for use in the manufacture of icev cream; but it is also suitable for use as coffee cream and in connection with breakfast foods; the apparatus may also be used to manufacture or emulsify a good sweet cream from sweet butter and` whole milk, or skimmed milk, or from sweet butter and condensed milk (either liquid or powdered) and water; another characteristic of the apparatus is that treated cream left over after manufacturing any of the products noted can be churned as exhaus tively and as readily as ordinary pasteurl struction shown,` described and claimedv ized cream.

The globules of butter fat contained in l ordinary cream are relatively large,` and the intervening space is filled with a `liquid,

mostly water, which, `when frozen, gives to the cream a gritty texture-as is well known, this objection is increased with the lapse of time necessary to age the cream for use in the manufacture of ice cream. Again the bacteria usually present in sweet cream tend to develop in the course of the agingprocess and frequently render the cream unfit for use for the purpose stated.- rllhe `present invention consists` in a device whereby the cream is successivelybrought into intimate Contact with a lplurality of iets of steafh' moving at high velocities, together with means for excluding airI or'foreign matter from the cream and 'for` cooling it as it passes from one jet to another. The invention further consists in the details of conherein; and it also consists in a process whereby the cream is both rendered smoother and pasteurized. lt furthermore consists in an apparatus whereby cream suitable for the manufacture of ice cream may be made from sweet butter and whole milk or skimmed milk, or from sweet butter and condensed milk and water.

Figure 1 is a side view, parts being broken away, lookingin-the direction indicated by the arrows and line 1-'1 of Fig. 2 and showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.. Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on about the lines 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa longitudinal section through a preferred form of jet. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the jetnozzle.

The embodiment of the invention shown comprises a substantially cylindrical casing 1. having its upper end closed by a cover 2, that may be flat as shown or may have its central portion arranged higher than the rim. Entering the upper portion of the casmg, preferably at one side thereof, is a cream supply pipe 3 (having a gate or other valve, not shown) "which communicates with a jet or comminuting device 4L by means "of a coupling 5 that screws onto athreaded intake flange 6 (F ig.` 4c) thereof.

`rlhe jet 4. is somewhat similar in action,

-in so faras its material handling function is concerned, to an injector and ln'cludes a .in the latter) in which are received the removable nozzle elements shown in Fig. 5. rlhese elements include the discharge nozzle tube 12 which is screw-threaded at 13 into'the skeleton carrier-tube '14, one end of opposite end the tube 14 fits inv the perforation in the dividing wall 10 and is thread ed to receive the removable steam nozzle tip 16 having a discharge opening 18 of which bears upon the cross wall 9. At its small cross-section.- 'As the tip 16 is tapered and extends in proximity to the advjacent end of the tube 12, the size ofthe annular passage through which the cream is admitted from the chamber y8 to the tube `412 may be accurately determined by turnf carrier 14 into bearing engagement with the wall l0. The other end of the steam receiving chamber is closed by a threaded plug 21 having a tubular flange 22 that bears upon the flange 20 and holds the latter to its seat as well as the lower end of the carrier 14 in close bearing relation to the wall 9. The fiange 22 is provided with a series of perforations 23 and the plug is preferably counterbored at 24 to receive the end of a tube 25 that may be screwed into the tip 16. The fitting 4, while located as a Whole inside of the casing, has its plug 21 projecting therefrom, consequently when the plug partial vacuum at the entrance to the latter.- Cream thus sucked into the tube 12 from the pipe 3 and struck by the steam,

has its globules of butter fat broken up and reduced in size; at the same time the temperature of the cream is raised. To obtain the best results, theopening 18 is preferably made small. Passage of the cream through a single jet is, however, insufficient to secure either the desired comminution of the 4substantially to the bottom of the casing and from there rises along the helical line 39, as indicated by the arrows, and enters a jet or comminuting device 40 (a duplicate of the jet 4) to whlch steam is conducted from theciloss 34 by a union 41 and associated nipp es. cream directly downward through the pipe 42 to the bottom of the casing from which it rises along' theline 43 to a third jet 45 that receives its steam from the cross 34 through the union 46; again being struck by the steam, the cream is driven downward through the pipe 48 to the bottom of the casing from which it rises along the helical line 49 to a fourth jet 50,

to which steamvissupplied from the T 32.

through union land associated fittings.

The jet 50. delivers the cream to a suitable receiver (not shown) through a pipe 52 that extends upwardly from the casing, and from this pipe the cream passes to' a suitable cooling device (not shown). It will be seen that The steam from this jet drives theA the jet 5() lies at substantially right angles A to the jets 4, 40 and 45, and has its plug 53 projecting through the side wall of the casing to afford access for cleaning purposes, and that the plugs of the jets 40 and 45, like that of the jet 4, project above the cover 2. By taking out the jet nozzles and replacing the plugs, a large volume of live steam may be blown through the pipes, which will render them perfectly clean and sterilize them after each operation.

Each of the coils 36-39, 42-43, and 48-49 is provided at its lowest portion with a drain pipe 55 having a drip cock 56. Cooling water is continually circulated through the casing by means of the intake nipple 58 (that preferably leads to a T 59 on the interior of the casing) and the overflow pipe 60, the upper end of which is slightly below the steam conduits 32-33, 34etc. The casing may be mounted on legs 61.

Operation.

Assuming that thecream fed by the pipe 3 is at a temperature of say 110O F., that the dimensions ofvthe parts are such that the cream is raised in temperature by each of the jets 4, 40, 45 and 50 substantially twenty five degrees (these figures merely indicate good practice), and that each of the coils 36-39, 42-43 and 48-49 cools the cream fifteen degrees, it will be seen that the cream Y issues from the jet 4 at 135o F., that it is delivered to the jet 40 at 120o F., and that its net increase in temperature for each of the jets 40 and 45 is also 10o-in other words it reaches the jet 50 at 140o F. The additional 25 in temperature imparted to it by the latter raises it to 165, which, because of the intimate commingling of the steam and cream, is suiiicient to insure thorough pasteurization. Because of the successive intimate applications of the steam to the cream, the final product is rendered much smoother and finer in constituency as well as increased in volume, and is made capable of readily undergoing the aging process. l

The same general operation takes place when the apparatus is used with amixture of butter and milk, or of butter and condensed milk and water, it being understood that these mixtures are heated, before being delivered to the apparatus, toa temperature msufiicient to melt the butter, and the cream so produced possesses substantially the same desirable characteristics as thatmade from fresh cream. v The word cream, as used in the. claims,

is, forlack of a morevconvenient term; intended to cover either \cr'eam (in the usual sense of the word) or such mixtures of butter and other products as has bee'npointed sont.

The details of construction may obviously be changed within Wide limits without` departingfrom the spi rit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited eX- cept as indicated by the following claims.

I claim l. Means for comminuting cream comprising a closed conduit through which itis passed, means for supplying cream to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of steam jetsrand means for cooling said conduit between said jets.

2. Means for comminuting cream comprising a casing, means for maintaining a predetermined level of cooling liquid therein, a conduit, means for supplying cream thereto, said conduit having portions located above the cooling liquid and other portions located below said level, said first mentioned portions each including a steam jet through which the cream is passed and by which it is delivered into the corresponding one of the last named port-ions.

Means for comminuting cream comprising a casing, means for maintaining a predetermined level of cooling liquid therein, a. conduit, means for supplying cream thereto, said conduit having portions located above the cooling liquid and other portions located below said level, said first mentioned portions each including a steam jet through which the cream is passed and by which it is delivered into the corresponding one of the last named portions, the heatingportions being capacity of the first named greater than the cooling capacity of the last/named portions whereby the temperature of the cream is raised.. v .4. Means for comminuting and pasteurizing cream comprising a closed conduit through which it is passed, means for supplying cream to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of steam jets and means for cooling said conduit between said jets, the heating capacity of the steam jets being suliciently greater than the cooling capacity of the cooling means to insure the cream being4 thoroughly pasteurized.

5. Means for treating dairy products comprising a closed conduit through which said products are passed, means for said product to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of alternately arranged steam jets and cooling means.,

6. Means for treating dairy products comprising a closed conduit through which said products are passed, means for supplying' said product to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of alternately arranged steam jets and cooling means, whereby the globules of butter fat initially found in the product are broken up, the heating capacity of the steam jets being suiiieieny greater than the cooling capacity of the cooling means to insure pasteurization.

7. Means for treating cream including a casing,.means for supplying cooling liquid supplying thereto, a conduit passing through said casing, means for supplying cream to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of steam jets alternating with a plurality of cooling coils, and means, located above the leve-l of the cooling liquid, for supplying steam tothe jets.

v 8. Means for comminuting cream compris- `the last named portions, and means for draining the portions ofV the conduit which are below the level of the cooling liquid.

9. Means for treating cream including a casing, means for supplying cooling liquid thereto, a conduit passing through said casing, means for supplying cream to the conduit, said conduit including a plurality of steam jets alternating with a plurality of cooling elements, said conduit also including another steam jet whereby the cream is delivered from the casing without passing through a cooling element.

l0. Means for treating cream including a casing, means for supplying cooling liquid thereto, a conduit passing through said casing, means for supplying cream to the oonduit, said conduit including a plurality of l ,steam jets alternating with a plurality of cooling elements, one'of said jets having a plug projecting from the casing whereby access may be had to the interior thereof for cleaning purposes.

.11. Means for treating cream including a casing, means for supplying cooling liquid thereto, a conduit passing through said casing, means for supplying cream to the conduit, said conduitincluding a plurality of steam jets alternating with a plurality of cooling elements, one of said jets having a plug .projecting from the casing whereby access may be had to the interior thereof for cleaning purposes, said jet also including a steam discharge nozzle and a combined cream-and-steam discharge nozzle arranged to be removed as a whole from the when the plug is removed. l 12. Means for treating cream including a casing, a conduit extending through said casing, means `for supplying cream to the conduit, means for maintaining a desired level of cooling liquid in the casing, said conduit including a vsteam jet *having a plug projecting from the casing whereby access -to the interior may be had for inspection pur- .Lposes, and a cooling element to which the cream is delivered, said element extending into the cooling liquid.

lli

13. The process of treating cream which consists in successively subjecting it to the comminuting action of jets of steam and cooling it between said comminuting actions whereby the size of the globules of butter fat is reduced.

14. The process of pasteurizing and comminuting cream which consists in passing it through a steam jet to raise its temperature and break up its constituent globules, then cooling it a less amount than its rise of temperature in the steam jet, and finally passingit through another steam jet where# by its globules are further broken upV and whereby it is pasteurized.

15. rlvhe process of treating cream Which consists in alternately passing it through a plurality of steam jets to raise its temperature to that necessary for pasteurization and to break up its constituent globules, and cooling it between its passage through successive jets sufficiently to reduce its temperature less than said temperature is raised by the corresponding jets.

16. A steam jet for comminuting cream including a cream chamber and a steam chamber, a` perforated dividing Wall between said chambers, the cream chamber also having an end Wall perforated in alinement with the perforation in the dividing Wall, the end of the steam chamber opposite the dividing Wall being closed by a removable plug, and a combined steam nozzle, cream intake,

cream delivery tube and finger piece removable through the end wall of the steam.

chamber when the plug is removed.

17. A steam jet for comminuting cream including a cream chamber and a steam chamber, a perforated dividing Wall between said chambers, the cream chamber also having an end wall perforated in alinement with the perforation in the dividing wall, the end of the steam chamber opposite the dividing wall being closed by a removable plug, and a combined steam nozzle, cream intake and cream delivery tube removable through the end wall of the steam chamber when the plug is removed.

18. A steam jet for comminu'ting cream including a cream chamber and agsteam chamber, a perforated dividing wall between said chambers, the cream chamber also having lan end Wall perforated in alinement with the perforation in the dividing Wall, the end of the steam chamber opposite the dividing wall being closed by a removable plug, and a combined steam nozzle, cream intake and cream delivery tube removable through the end wall of the Steam chamber when the plug is removed, said plug having a tubular fla-nge whereby saidl combined steam nozzle, cream intake and cream delivery tube is held seated on both the perforated Walls when the plug is in normal position.

JOHN F. RUEF. 

